Implementation of a Robotic Rocker-Bogie Prototype

Currently, many small Army ground robots have mobility configurations containing tracks with sets of dual or quad flipper configurations. Many of these robots include the iRobot PackBot, Talon, and Dragon Runner. While the preceding robotic designs have allowed these robots to navigate over obstacles and across low traction environments, an increasing need for agile robotic platforms in complex environments involving subterranean and urban structure missions will be critical in the future. Therefore, a new mobility system for dismounted ground robots is being researched to aid in the exploration, mapping, and identification by targets of interest for dense urban environments. This paper discusses one possibility for a new small CRS-I sized ground robot mobility system that is inspired by the rocker-bogie designs of the Mars rover systems.

Citation: Timothy Pietrzyk, Ty Valascho “Robotic Rocker-Bogie Mechanism Prototype”, In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 13-15, 2019.